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What's the purpose of individual player housing in MMOs? I can come up with three valid reasons:

Loot storage

Personal space to customize and mess around with

Private conversations (assuming other players can enter your space)

Am I missing something? I really don't see the point in it. Really, even loot storage could be achieved through some sort of vault/bank system. And private conversations can be done over chat/tells. For me, having that personal space isn't worth my time and effort and resources.

So why do people complain about it not being in games?

Player Housing

Must have

Nice to have

Don't care

Don't want

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-------------The less you expect, the more you'll be surprised. Hopefully, pleasantly so.

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back in UO days they were awesome for decoration and displying rare items, UO is they only game I know where you could get very rare but very useless stuff. Like skull candles, statues and just waay to much stuff to recall now, plus having individual player housing opens up a new market for the game economy like buying and selling houses. One of my favorite things ever was the housing in UO back before people could customize the houses to whatever they wanted.

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I liked it in UO. There it was a place to socialize. Multiple houses made our village, which we defended and where people visited. It made us feel like we were part of the virtual world

In other games i've played i couldn't care less. There was no need to meet up and hang out: Global chat lets you speak to everyone all over the world. There was no need to socialize because we had to level and then raid or grind for raids. GET THEM EPIX!

I guess for me... housing isn't important in games that focus on the MMO bit. Housing gets more important in games that focus on the ORPG bit.

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one of the great things about ingame housing, is it adds diversity in game play, like the way it done in eq2, most dont care to do much out of it, but those who does get some really cool ideas.....so space for creativity.

not a must have, but can be one of the ways an MMO can give options other than, haave to go grind to do anything "meaningful" in game.

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I'm not a fan of player housing, (though I do like Guild/Clan halls) because I feel it isolates the player base from each other.

That said, I know that many people like it, so that should be enough of a reason to include it.

No need to look for deep meaning, MMORPG's are supposed to be virutual worlds (IMO) and personalized housing is one way to make it more so.

Arrogant, Condescending, Dismissive, Elitist, "Meany", you speak as if these are bad things?Still currently "subscribed" to EVE, and only EVE!!!"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon

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I haven't played a huge variety of MMO's, but I did play FFXI and I like the housing system, with the exception of the whole system being instanced for each player's house. Housing in MMO's creates lots of opportunites for crafters to flourish, and they allow for some creativity. I think houses should be out in the open, however, for everyone to see and walk by.

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I don't see the point in PvP but millions enjoy it.

Economy, one thing people will pay a lot of money for is stuff to decorate their houses ask any carpenter in fantasy games. That's one very good reason why people who wouldn't even own a house care, it could get you some nice coin.

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I'm all in favour of things in games that don't have a point. Sometimes they're just there to give players something else to work on in the game. Like achievments, for the most part. Sort of the point.

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If you have to ask 'why' then you're clearly not the target audience. Player housing is one of the few features that link back to a time when these things were virtual worlds instead of simply games. That time is passing, but housing is one of the initial things that drew me to the genre. The first time I saw one in UO was an 'oh cool' moment that resonated.

Sure, the eleventy billion people that play WoW and its ilk don't care, and that's ok. For me though, housing is one of the few things that separate an MMORPG from every other type of game. Combat is fun, but its ultimately one-dimensional and pointless. Housing gives you the very rare chance to permanently affect the world, at least in the games with real housing (UO, SWG, VG) and not that half-assed instanced crap.

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Originally posted by veritas_X

If you have to ask 'why' then you're clearly not the target audience. Player housing is one of the few features that link back to a time when these things were virtual worlds instead of simply games. That time is passing, but housing is one of the initial things that drew me to the genre. The first time I saw one in UO was an 'oh cool' moment that resonated.

Sure, the eleventy billion people that play WoW and its ilk don't care, and that's ok. For me though, housing is one of the few things that separate an MMORPG from every other type of game. Combat is fun, but its ultimately one-dimensional and pointless. Housing gives you the very rare chance to permanently affect the world, at least in the games with real housing (UO, SWG, VG) and not that half-assed instanced crap.

nothing more to add

Well .....almost nothing......, I could say a MMORPG without housing is nothing more then a regular multiplayer online game with quests and more people then your regular 16/16, 32/32 setup.

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Originally posted by Normbean

back in UO days they were awesome for decoration and displying rare items, UO is they only game I know where you could get very rare but very useless stuff. Like skull candles, statues and just waay to much stuff to recall now, plus having individual player housing opens up a new market for the game economy like buying and selling houses. One of my favorite things ever was the housing in UO back before people could customize the houses to whatever they wanted.

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Neocron did it best. You start off with your own apartment and you can buy different types later on, and you can specify which city you want an apartment in.. it's not completely random.

I wait for the day that there is such a MMO out there that offers such a thing... with PVP involved... Stalk people and wait for them to go to their house\apartment.. Run up and gank them. YES. That's how it should be. Stalk and kill..

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It adds depth and uniqueness to the game. Thus, it brings in additional players, and provides additional value for your payment. However, it does require development resources, and the positive must be weighed against the cons. With mmo themeparks as they are now, I imagine most developers would rather use that development time to create new dungeons for people to chew through and discard after the next expansion (please note my sarcasm here and the fact that I detest the linear throw-away dungeon model).